The Night at the Childrens Museum
by WogglebugLoveProductions
Summary: The Pharoh's tablet is accidentally brought and left at The Childrens Museum of New York. Thus begins a whole new adventure in a new place during another night to remember.
1. Chapter 1

A class of fifth grade students were on a tour of the Museum of Natural History in New York. The museum curator, a lovely and smiling young woman welcomed them at the entrance and led them onward.

"Welcome to the Museum of Natural History, where history comes to life," she said.

She then led them inside and stopped beside of a wax statue of man sitting on a large chestnut colored horse. He was wearing an adventurer's uniform and mountain hat and had a mustache and glasses. He held a sword up in his left hand in a bold position.

"This is Theodore Roosevelt, our twenty-sixth president, whom this museum was created for. He absolutely loved history and believed that the more one knows about the past the more prepared they are for the future. He was born here in New York, and he also was a great outdoors adventurer. The teddy bear was named after him when he rescued a young bear cub in the wild."

She then led them up to a tall golden bronze statue of man wearing thirteenth century clothing and an old-fashioned sailer's hat. He was pointing to the west and holding a map in his right arm.

"This is Christopher Columbus," their tour guide began. Then some of the children began asking questions.

"I know about him! He discovered America in 1492, right?" asked a little girl with blonde pigtails.

"Well, yes, and no. You see," she began but was cut off by a boy with red hair and glasses.

"But wasn't it actually Leif Erickson the viking who first came to America long before then?"

"Well, yes, that is correct," she replied. "Though Columbus is still a very important historical figure because if he hadn't come to America when he did we might not be here today."

She then led them to the wax statues of the family of Neanderthals which were very primitive men wearing mammoth fur clothing and holding sticks and stones to make fire from.

"These are the Neanderthals," she said. "They are the cousins of our ancestors of approximately one-hundred-and-fifty thousand years ago. They used to be thought to be our own ancestors when Paleontologists discovered it to be otherwise.

She then led them into the hall of African mammals where they saw very lifelike statues of elephants, giraffes, lions, leopards, cheetahs, and monkeys.

"This is a cappuchin monkey," she explained as she stopped next to a tiny monkey with a very sweet looking face. "It is known for its trusting and loving nature, and also for its mischievousness."

She then led them to a large glass case behind which there was a statue of a beautiful young Indian woman standing next to young men who were holding maps and wearing eighteenth century English clothing.

"This is Sacajawea," she explained. "She led Lewis and Clark across rivers and over mountains with her newborn baby on her back. She was the ultimate working mother."

She led them on and the saw the giant Easter Island head, the statues of Attila the Hun and his marauders. They also went into the hall of miniatures and saw recreations of the Wild West, and the Roman Empire. Then lastly, she led them into the Tomb of the Pharaoh.

"Down this way is the Tomb of the Pharaoh," she said as she led them down a long corridor covered from wall to wall with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. "He was called Ahkmenrah, the fourth son of the fourth King. He reigned for ten years before he died at the age of twenty-one."

They saw the golden sarcophagus in which resided the body of the Pharaoh. She then gestured further down toward the very end of the room at which they saw there was a large golden tablet on the wall with pictures engraved in it in individual squares.

"Over there is the Pharaoh's treasure which was brought here fifty-five years ago," she explained. "It was said to hold great powers and perhaps even to hold the secrets of life within it. But what those were has always remained a mystery."

She then turned around and said, "Well, that concludes our tour. I hope you enjoyed your time here."

She then began to lead them out of the Pharaoh's room. Suddenly, a small boy with low cut black hair grabbed onto the shoulder of the boy with red hair and glasses and turned him towards him.

"You see that Tablet over there?" he whispered to him. "I heard that it makes everything in this place come to life at night."

"No way! That's impossible!" said the red-haired boy.

"Well, I want to find out," said the other boy. "You go over there and get it for me."

"Why don't you get it?" asked the other boy.

"Because if you get caught it wouldn't matter, but if I did it would. Now get it!" he said.

The boy looked nervously at the shiny tablet on the wall behind him and then turned back and said, "But what if there is a curse on it?"

"All the more reason for you to be the one to get it!" he said. He then pushed him forward a few inches.

So then he went trembling up to the tablet and with shaking fingers he grabbed onto it and took it off of its place on the wall. He held it in his hands and glanced apprehensively at the sarcophagus in which lay the Egyptian King whom this belonged to. He then rushed back to the other boy and handed it to him.

"That was easy, wasn't it?" he asked smugly as he took off his backpack and slipped the Tablet into it.

"This is stealing I'm telling you!" the other boy said in a whisper.

"But he's a dead guy," he said gesturing toward the sarcophagus.

"And that makes it all the more wrong!" the other boy said in a frightened whisper.

"Well, it's too late now," he said as he put his backpack around his shoulders again. "Now let's get out of here before they come back and catch us!"

And then they both hurried out of the Tomb and rejoined the other students just as they were aboutto leave the museum.


	2. Chapter 2

When Jeremy Johnston got home that afternoon he took off his backpack and tossed it aside.

"Mom! I'm home!" he called out through the empty living room. Then he remembered that his mother wasn't home, and neither was his father for that matter. His parents had been divorced for over a year now. Shortly afterward his father had moved to San Fransisco on a promotion and so he hadn't seen him since then. He rarely saw his mother now either as she had then taken a job as a banker and often worked until very late at night. So now either his grandfather or some other babysitter would be here to greet him and his little sister Sally when they came home.

Sighing, he went towards the TV set and sat down in a chair and picked up the remote and turned on the set. He flipped through some channels but everything he found on them was either too juvenile, too mature, too educational, or just too boring for his liking. So he sighed and got up and then started on his way up the stairs.

He was halfway up when he heard his little sister's high and shrill voice nearly screaming from inside the Master Bedroom.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! Get up! Get up!" she was hollering.

Jeremy sighed and turned to go in to see what the problem was. It wasn't that he didn't like his little sister, it was just that she could at times be such a pest and seemed to always know how to annoy him to no end. What annoyed him the most about her was how whenever their mother was home she seemed to get most, if not all of the attention, and it was even worse when their grandfather was there because the old coot would always let her have her way.

When he opened the door he saw Sally was jumping up and down on top of the bed and trying to wake Grandpa up.

"Huh? What? What is it, Sal?" asked Grandpa as finally began to slowly wake up.

"Grandpa, you promised you would take me to see the Children's Museum today! You promised!" she exclaimed heatedly, almost as if it were a matter of life and death to her.

"Oh, that's right. I did, didn't it?" said Grandpa as he got up slowly and rubbed his eyes. Then as he put on his glasses he awakened himself fully and smiled brightly saying, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go! Hurry now, put on your shoes and get your purse!"

Jeremy sighed and shook his head as Sally jumped off the bed and ran at full steam past him and down the stairs. He followed her. He couldn't his luck! It was bad enough having to go to that boring old History Museum this morning, and now what was worse was that now he was having to go to a Museum that was solely for babies! What a horrible life he was leading!

So off they went to the Children's museum which was located just down town. As they approached the building Grandpa held Sally by the hand and led her toward the entrance as graciously as if she were a great Queen and he was her servant. As they stepped through the doors he extended his hand out as if giving the Museum to her as a gift as he said,

"Here we are, my dear! The Children's Museum! Where all of your favorite stories and dreams come to life!"

Sally squealed and jumped up and down excitedly while Jeremy just sighed and rolled his eyes. Then they went off to look at the exhibits.

They went first to the Land of Oz exhibit where there was a life size replica of the Emerald City in front of a giant painting of a rainbow and underneath there was a road made of actual bricks that had been painted yellow. Lined up in a row were wax statues of the famous characters from the Oz books. They saw Dorothy and Toto, with the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Cowardly Lion, Wizard, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda the Good Witch of the South. They also saw further down the line statues of Jack Pumpkinhead, Tictok the Clockwork Man, the Patchwork Girl, and Mr. H.M. Wogglebug T.E.

Sally pointed to each of the characters and said their names. She remembered the names of the first ones very easily as she had seen their movie at least a hundred times so far, though she had trouble with the ones further down, especially the last one.

"He is Mr... Wo... Woog...Woggie..." She muttered.

"He is Mr. Wogglebug," Grandpa supplied for her. "And he is the biggest and smartest and nicest bug in all of the world, don't you know."

Sally smiled and nodded while Jeremy looked at the life size statue of the manlike insect and thought how he looked just as ridiculous as his name sounded and was sure he was nowhere near as smart as they made him out to be.

Next they went to the Wonderland exhibit. There they saw life size scenes of wax figures of Alice sitting at the tea party held by the Md Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse, and the Chesire Cat was curled up in a tree in the background grinning from ear to ear. Next to this they saw a huge and elaborate scene of the Queen and King of Hearts surrounded by a whole army of cards. The Queen looked as if she were shouting, and no doubt it was 'Off with their heads!'.

Next they went into a room that looked much like a jungle or a forest and there were huge and very lifelike hairy statues of things that could be considered a variety of things as they looked like a tigon, a bull, a goat, a bird, a rhino, and a trolllike thing.

"This is where the Wild Things are!" Grandpa announced to Sally grandly. "You remember them from the story we read together last night, right?"

Sally nodded and said, "They're not gonna eat me, are they?"

"I don't think so," Grandpa assured her. "They look much too gentle and sweet, just like you."

Next they looked at exhibits with the Cat in the Hat, who had recently become Sally's idol; and a The Wind in the Willows with Mr. Toad driving in the front of an old fashioned motorcar with Mr. Rat, Mr. Mole, and Mr. Badger around him and looking very frantic; and also Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and Mary Poppins in a scene that was a grand recreation of the chimney tops of old London.

They also looked at statues of King Arthur with Queen Guinevere and Merlin the Wizard in a fabulous recreation of Camelot.

"And here is another great wizard if I do say so myself," said Grandpa as they were now looking at the wizard Ghandalf the Gray with the hobbit Bilbo at his feet and they were surrounded by the dwarves and there was Gollum peeking out at them in a corner.

As they neared the end of their tour they came to the exhibit of scenes from Peter Pan with Peter, Wendy, John, and Michael hovering from the ceiling above them along with a tiny twinkling yellow light that was meant to be Tinkerbell. They also saw a huge grand replica of a pirate ship with Captain Hook standing at the port bow with Mr. Smee and all of his other pirate mates around them.

Sally hid behind Grandpa slightly. "Captain Hook scares me," she said as she looked at the hateful expression on the pirate statue's face.

"No need to be afraid," Grandpa assured her. "Peter Pan is right there."

"Grandpa I have to go to the bathroom now," Sally said a bit urgently.

"Okay. Come with me," Grandpa said and began leading her out of the room.

Jeremy followed them for a while, and then he suddenly remembered something. He still had the Tablet of Ahkmenrah which he had stolen from the History Museum earlier with him in his backpack. He wondered if what he'd heard about it could possibly be true and it really could bring nonliving things to life. He looked up at the wax statues around him. He remembered how when he had been Sally's age Peter Pan had been his absolute favorite story and his hero.

He carefully took the Tablet out of his backpack and looked at it, wondering what all of the symbols on all of the individual squares meant and if he was to turn them in a certain pattern would anything happen. He was just about to try this when suddenly he heard a deep booming voice call out to him.

"Hey! What are you doing in here all alone?"

He looked up quickly and saw a man wearing a blue guard's uniform standing at the entrance in the room. He realized he was caught and had to think of a good explanation and fast.

He fumbled for words as he sputtered, "I...I... I... um... well, I... I... just... found this thing here," he showed him the Tablet, "And I guess it belongs here in this room. It must be his treasure," he added pointing towards Captain Hook.

The guard frowned at him and said, "Well, then just put it down and leave it there."

And so Jeremy did. Then the guard left. Then seconds later his Grandpa and Sally came back and he quickly rejoined them and they left the museum as it was near to closing time.


	3. Chapter 3

At exactly the same time that the sun went down over the horizon, everything in the Children's Museum came to life.

Captain Hook blinked and looked around him as he stood at the port bow of his pirate ship. He then lifted his arm with the hook on the end and shook it with fury.

"Odds, bods, hammer and tongs! Where are we! Where is that dratted Peter Pan!" he exclaimed.

"He was here just a moment ago," said Mr. Smee to his right. "But then I guess he flew away."

Captain Hook raised his hooked hand ready hit Smee with it. "Smee, you wretched..." He paused when he saw what Smee was holding up for him to see. "What is that you have there?" he asked curiously.

"This?" Smee looked at the golden square shaped object in his hands with symbols engraved on it in smaller squares. "I don't know what it is. I just found it on the ship when I was swabbing the poop deck. I thought it looked quite pretty. But of course if you don't want it we can toss it overboard."

Smee then started to bring it toward the side of the ship when Captain Hook suddenly caught him by the shirt collar with the edge of his hook. "Hold on a moment there, hasty Smee! Let me have a look at this." He seized the Tablet from Smee's hands and examined it closely.

"Why, this is a very interesting looking thing," he said to himself. "It seems to have little pictures carved into it. They must mean something. Why, I bet it must be some sort of ancient magic spell on this thing!"

"What kind of spell, Captain?" asked Smee very interested.

"I don't know, you idiot!" snapped Captain Hook. "We shall have to find someone who can decipher this ancient spell on this. A mage or a soothsayer of some sort."

"But where are we going to find one, Captain?" asked Smee.

"We'll find one if we know where to look," replied Captain Hook. "Hoist anchor! Avast the sail!" he called out to his fellow pirates.

The other pirates on the ship hastened to bring up the anchor and set sail, only then to discover there was no anchor on their ship and no sea under it.

"Uh... Captain, we'd like to but there's no sea under us," said one mate.

"Oh, rubbish and poppycock!" snapped Captain Hook in disbelief. "Of course there is..." He then looked down for himself and saw what they saw. "Uh... yes, so I see. There is no sea around here. Well, then we'll just go looking on foot. Now get a move on, me hardys!"

So then the pirates climbed down from the ship and began walking on foot through the museum. They walked down a long empty hall. Then at the end of it they heard a shrill voice cackling in a room to their right. They looked inside and found the Wicked Witch of the West standing beside her cauldron and stirring something in it that was bubbling and steaming.

"Who is she, Captain?" asked Smee.

"She seems to be just who we've been looking for!" exclaimed Captain Hook triumphantly.

"You mean she be a mage?" asked Smee.

"Of course, you half-wit!" snapped Captain Hook. "Can't you see she is all dressed in black with a pointed hat, and there is a broomstick beside her, and she is brewing something in a cauldron! Why was I cursed with such fools for mates!"

So then they went up to the Witch and Smee peered into her cauldron she was stirring and wrinkled his nose as he asked, "What's cooking?"

"Nothing that is of any concern to you," replied the Witch harshly. "Step away from it unless you want it to burn your eyes out!"

So Smee at once backed away from the cauldron while Captain Hook approached the Witch from behind.

"Pardon me, great mage, but I was hoping you might be able decipher this for us," he said as he held up the Tablet for her to see.

The Witch glanced at the Tablet and then stopped stirring her brew and turned around to take it. She examined it closely and then said, "Hmm... Well, these are symbols I have never seen before on anything. So it must be a very old and very complex spell we have here. I'm afraid we will have to find someone with a greater knowledge of magic than I. You see I only know very dark magic."

"I see," said Captain Hook, clearly disappointed. "Well, then let us be on our way."

The pirates, along with the Witch now, continued on their way through the museum. Along the way, they met up with another band of pirates who were led by none other than Captain Long John Silver from Treasure Island.

"Ahoy, me fellow long-jaggers!" greeted Long John Silver. "Fancy seeing your lot around here."

"How do you do?" said Captain Hook a bit impatiently. "Now if you'll excuse us, we must be on our way..."

"What's the hurry?" asked John Silver. He then noticed the golden Tablet that Captain Hook was carrying under his right arm. "And what have you got there?"

"This? It is some sort of ancient Tablet with a magical inscription carved into it," replied Captain Hook hastily. "And we don't understand it so we're looking for someone who can decipher it for us. Can you decipher it, by any chance?"

Long John Silver looked closely at the Tablet in Hook's hands and examined it very closely. He squinted his eyes at it and then replied, "I'm afraid I can't understand anything about it myself. But why do you need it to be deciphered anyway? It's priceless just as it is. Look at it, it's made of pure, polished solid gold! As a matter of fact, I think I'd be willing to trade you me own treasure chest for it."

"You would?" asked Captain Hook in surprise.

"Absolutely," replied John Silver. "Generous to fault, eh, aren't I?"

"Maybe you should, Captain," said Smee. "After all..."

"Quiet, Smee!" snapped Captain Hook. "I'm trying to think about it."

Then after a few moments of contemplation, Captain Hook replied, "You are very kind, sir. But I'm afraid I must refuse your offer. Because you see I found the Tablet first and so that makes it mine and because it is mine when its deciphered it's magic may work only on me."

Long John Silver frowned disapprovingly. "How can you be so sure of that?" he asked. "How long have you been sailing the seven seas?"

"Let's see," Captain Hook paused for a second, "Nearly one-hundred years."

"Hah!" laughed John Silver. "I've been sailing them for far longer than that. Nearly three-hundred years. And so I think I would take better care of it. Now hand it over!"

"Over me dead body I will!" said Captain Hook pulling the Tablet out of John Silver's reach.

"Now, now," said John Silver evenly, "we don't have to come to blows over this. If you will just give it up peacefully..."

"Never!" shouted Captain Hook.

"Then so be it!" said John Silver fiercely. He then took a long silver sword out of his belt and pointed it straight at Captain's Hook's chest.

Captain Hook just laughed and held his hook out and held it underneath John Silver's chin. "You may be a fine swordsman, I trust," he said cunningly. "But what may you say when me hook is to your throat.

Then before anything else could happen, they were suddenly interrupted by a high-pitched and very shrill voice with a very loud and deep British accent yelling out, "Off with their heads! Off with their heads!"

Then they all stood still and watched as the Queen of Hearts came marching into the room along with her surrounding army of cards. She walked straight up to Captain Hook and said, "Off with your hat, or off with you head!"

So Captain Hook promptly swept off his three-cornered pirate hat and bowed low before her. "Forgive me, Your Majesty!" he said hastily. "I just didn't expect to see you here!"

"Didn't expect to see me!" she exclaimed with much indignation. "Why I'll have you know I am the Queen around here and you are in my Palace, and therefore all of the ways around here are my ways! Which means that you must give me what I want when I want it. And I want that golden Tablet and I want it now!"

"I think I'd rather lose my head than lose this," replied Captain Hook. "It is an ancient relic with a powerful spell on it. I don't know what it is yet. But I'm sure it will be of no use to you."

The Queen's mouth opened very wide before she spoke. "Did you not hear a word I just said?! This is my palace and all the ways in it belong to me! And if I say off with your head, off with your head!"

"Hold on! Wait a minute! Let's not do anything hasty now," said the Witch of the West as she cut in. "Remember our first priority before all this feuding broke out was to find someone to decipher the spell on the Tablet here."

"That's right," said Captain Hook. "Without the spell it's just a pretty piece of gold."

"I like pretty pieces of gold!" said Long John Silver.

"And so do I!" bellowed the Queen of Hearts.

"Okay! Now I suggest we go back to looking for someone to decipher the spell on this thing," the Witch continued. "And then once we know what it actually does we will decide whether or not it's worth killing for."

"I agree," said Captain Hook. "Now how are we to find someone to decipher this ancient code?"

"I have slaves on my side," said the Witch. "They are the Winged Monkeys and they can fly out of here and if there is anyone who knows about this Tablet in the world they will find him and bring him here."

"I suppose I could also have my Cards search for someone around here also," said the Queen.

"So could my ship mates," said John Silver.

"Mine, too," added Captain Hook. "Alright, so let's get looking."

The Witch then summoned her Winged Monkeys to her. "Epee-pepee-kakee! Hill-o-holl-o-hell-o! Zizee-Zuzee-Zik!"

Then there came a band of winged monkeys flying above them toward her. They stopped in front of her and their leader said, "What is your command?"

"Go out and find someone, anyone, who knows anything about this." She then showed them the Tablet.

They took a good look at it and then nodded, spread their wings, and flew away.

They opened a window of the museum on a higher level and flew out of it and soared through the air in the night of New York.


	4. Chapter 4

Jeremy was laying in his bed fast asleep when he was suddenly awakened by a loud chattering and scratching noise coming from outside his window. He sat up and rubbed his eyes open and was just in time to see the window being opened from the outside by what looked like a large bluish gray monkey with a pair of big broad wings on its back.

"Tell me," the monkey demanded in a scratchy and screechy voice. "Do you know anything about a magic golden Tablet?"

"Uh... I... uh... I stole one from a museum yesterday," Jeremy replied falteringly, "and I..."

Then before he had hardly any time to react the winged monkey flew into his room, grabbed hold of him under his arms and lifted him out of bed and then flew back out through the window with him in tow.

Jeremy gasped and panted in terror as he was flown over the city in the dark night. He didn't seem to have anything to do now as he was being held under the arms by the flying monkey and if he squirmed he could be dropped and there would be a long way to fall. He then remembered about how when he had first seen The Wizard of Oz movie he had always been terrified of the Winged Monkeys and had fearful nightmares of them coming into his bedroom, taking him, and flying away with him. He had outgrown those nightmares a few years ago, and now it seemed so ironic for them to be coming true at the this time in his life.

He wondered where the monkey was taking him. And then he saw the building of the Children's Museum far down below them. He then remembered about leaving the Tablet there that afternoon and then he realized that the Tablet's rumored magic must be true and that was why he had been invading by a flying monkey who had asked him about it and was now flying him back there. He wondered who else he would see there and shivered at the thought of meeting the Wicked Witch of the West.

The winged monkey bent lower and held Jeremy down vertically as he flew back in through the window of the Children's Museum he had flown out of and then flew down the stairs and brought Jeremy before the four villains. They all looked confused, upset, and mortified at the sight of him, which was much the same way he felt about seeing them with the added addition of fear.

"What is this?!" demanded Captain Hook. "You brought back a lost boy with you?!"

"He is a really scrawny little scalawag, isn't he?" added Long John Silver.

"Off with his head!" shouted the Queen of Hearts.

"Now, now," said the Witch of the West, "I ordered my slaves to bring back someone who knew about this Tablet and they surely must have done so. Now," she added turning fiercely onto Jeremy, "do you know anything at all about this?" she held up the Tablet for him to see.

Jeremy gulped. He figured he might just as well tell them the truth. After all, what else was there to tell them? "Yes, I... I do," he muttered timidly. "I stole it yesterday afternoon from the Museum of Natural History where it belongs to an Egyptian Pharaoh named Ahkmenrah and then I brought it here."

"So you stole it and brought it here," repeated the Witch. "Can you tell us why you did and anything about these strange symbols on it?"

Jeremy was now sweating heavily. "I took it and brought it here with me because I'd heard about it as having ancient magic powers that can bring nonliving things to life at night and I wanted to see if it would work around here if it was true, and now I can see it is true. You see, you're all really a bunch of statues made of wax and you've come to life by the magic of the Tablet."

They all looked greatly stunned and shocked at what he had just revealed to them.

"How dare you call us wax! Off with your head!" the Queen of Hearts shouted furiously.

"Stuff and nonsense about us being statues!" added Captain Hook. "I'll have you know I have always been alive!"

"I don't believe it myself, either," added Long John Silver.

"Wait a minute!" said the Witch sharply. "I don't like the idea of it myself. But what if the brat is telling the truth? What if we really did just come to life just now. I mean, we know who we are but do we really remember anything that happened around here before now?"

The other three then remained silent as they thought about this and realized she was right.

"Well," said Long John Silver, "if the little blighter is right then that means we will all turn back into wax at the crack of dawn."

"But that's not fair!" complained Captain Hook. "I want to stay here for always and sail the seven seas, after I be rid of that dastardly Peter Pan and his followers, of course."

"And I want to also stay here and rule over this palace and behead as many as I wish, starting with that wretched girl named Alice," added the Queen of Hearts.

"I'd like to also stay here and get the Silver Shoes off of Dorothy's feet and then have power over the whole world with them," added the Witch of the West. "So," she added turning once again to Jeremy, "do you know of any way in which we wan use this Tablet to remain permanently living and achieve our goals?"

Jeremy shook his head vigorously. "No... No, I don't. Honest!"

The Witch narrowed her eyes at him and spoke to him in a dangerous voice, "How do I know you are not lying to me?"

"Because... I'm not!" Jeremy said defenselessly.

"You saying so isn't convincing enough for me," the Witch told him crossly.

"But I really don't know anything else about the Tablet, or about any kind of magic for that matter!" Jeremy said on the verge of sobbing now. "What do you want from me?"

The four villains looked at each for a few moments as though silently discussing with one another what to do with him. Then finally the Witch turned back to him and said, "Well, we have decided, whether you're telling the truth or not, to have you..."

"Fed to the crocodile!" said Captain Hook.

"No!" said the Witch.

"Walk the plank!" said Long John Silver.

"No!" said the Witch.

"Off with your head!" said the Queen of Hearts.

"No!" said the Witch.

"Then what?" all three asked in unison.

"We are going to have you take this Tablet and look for someone here in this museum who can decipher it's symbols and read the spells in it and grant us our wishes," the Witch said as she held the Tablet out for Jeremy to take. "Go now, and do not fail us, for if you do you and all the other ones around here will be very, very sorry you did!" She gave him a warning glare.

Jeremy held the Tablet in his shaking, trembling hands and nodded. "I won't fail," he said. He then turned and ran away as fast as he could.


	5. Chapter 5

As Jeremy ran away from the four villains in the museum he clutched the Tablet to his chest and wondered how he had gotten into this mess. And then he realized he already knew. If he hadn't had stolen the Tablet from the history museum in the first place none of this would have happened and he'd still be safe and asleep in his bed. He now had such a burden resting on his shoulders. He didn't want the four villains to get what they wanted from the Tablet, but he also feared for the fate of himself and of others in the museum if he failed to get the information that they wanted before sunrise.

He was running so quickly that he didn't see where he was going. He didn't notice Mr. Toad was driving at top speed down the hall in his motorcar until the last minute when Mr. Toad honked the horn frantically and shouted, "Look out!"

Jeremy stopped and turned around at the last possible second, and by then it looked like it was too late to get out of the way. He stood frozen to the spot with fear. Then all of a sudden, from out of nowhere he felt someone grab onto him from behind and pull him out of harm's way.

The motorcar then went speeding away from them. Jeremy breathed a deep sigh of relief and then turned to look at his rescuer. And he was most surprised to see who it was. He looked something like a beetle or a cockroach wearing fancy clothing.

"You're... You're... Mr.. Wooglebug?" he said as he tried to remember his name.

"I am Mr. H.M. Wogglebug T. E., my boy," he replied as he showed his card to Jeremy for him to see the correct spelling of his name.

"Oh!" Jeremy said. "Thank you. You just saved my life!"

"Think nothing of it, lad," Mr. Wogglebug said smiling. "Now where were you going in such a hurry before then?"

"I was running away," said Jeremy. "From the Queen of Hearts, two pirate captains, and the Wicked Witch of the West."

"Ah, I see," replied Mr. Wogglebug. "The Queen of Hearts does have a passion for wanting anyone who bothers her beheaded, and Hook and Silver would gladly make you walk the plank if they had one, and I don't even want to think about what the Wicked Witch of the West could do to you if you crossed her." He then noticed the golden Tablet Jeremy was clutching in his hands. "What is this?" he asked curiously.

"This? It's a magic Tablet that brings things to life and it's why you, and the villains, and I guess everything else around here is alive," explained Jeremy.

"Oh, I was wondering about why that is," Mr. Wogglebug said. "Is there any limitations on it?"

"Well, the magic on it only lasts until sunrise," replied Jeremy. "And the those villains back there have ordered me to find someone around here who can read the spells on this thing so that they can be alive permanently and take over the museum, and then the world."

Mr. Wogglebug stared wide-eyed at Jeremy. "But if you and whoever you find to read the Tablet does that, then you'll both be as the villains are yourselves!" he exclaimed.

"I guess you're right," Jeremy admitted. "But at the moment it doesn't seem like I have any other choice. After all, like you said those villains would like to have it in for me if I crossed them."

Mr. Wogglebug nodded very solemnly. Then he closed his eyes for a momenta s he appeared to be deep in thought. Then when he opened his eyes he said, "Well, in that case the only thing for you to do is to find someone who can read the Tablet but who will also be wiser and kinder and also more powerful than all of the villains combined."

"That does sound like a good idea," agreed Jeremy. "But how am I ever going to find someone like that here and before sunrise? I'm afraid I don't know my way around here very well."

"Hmm, yes, that would be a problem," Mr. Wogglebug said thoughtfully. "So therefore I shall accompany you through the halls of this great museum and together we will find our answers to your problem and save the world."

"Will you really? Gee, thanks!" said Jeremy very gratefully.

"Well, it is the least I can do for an aspiring young person such as yourself who looks like he is need of higher education," Mr. Wogglebug replied.

"Well," said Jeremy. "If you're so educated yourself then why can't you just read this Tablet yourself?"

"Well, because at the school I was educated at didn't teach magic and suchlike," Mr. Wogglebug explained plainly. "But sure there is bound to be someone in these halls who can decipher the Tablet's spells. Maybe there is even more than one. We just have to look for them."

"Okay," said Jeremy. "Let's start looking."

"One thing I am curious about," Mr. Wogglebug said as he walked alongside Jeremy, "is how this magic Tablet came to be here. I mean I don't remember much of anything that happened around here before now."

Jeremy gulped knowing he should tell him the truth. "I... I sort of … kind of... stole it from another museum and I brought it here."

Mr. Wogglebug stared at him in great surprise and disappointment. "You stole it! Why would you do such a thing as robbing a museum of one of its prized possessions?"

"Well.." Jeremy said hesitatingly. "because I'd heard about it's magic powers of bringing things to life and I wanted to find out if t was true."

"But didn't you realize it was wrong to take something that wasn't yours, and especially without even asking?" Mr. Wogglebug inquired gently.

"Well, yes, I kind of did," Jeremy admitted sullenly. "So I guess that was why I had one of my classmates take it out of its place at the other museum and give it to me."

"Then that makes it all the more worse!" Mr. Wogglebug exclaimed. "Why would you want to bully an innocent person into doing something they didn't want to do and that they knew was wrong?"

"I guess... because I didn't really like him," admitted Jeremy weakly.

"But did you have a reason for not liking him?" Mr. Wogglebug inquired.

"Well, it was because he had red hair and lots of freckles and these big goofy glasses," said Jeremy knowing right away what Mr. Wogglebug's response was going to be.

"But that is no good reason to dislike anybody at all!" he said almost sounding angry.

"I know," said Jeremy. "I know, and I'm sorry."

"Well, it seems as if it is too late to be sorry now, I'm afraid," Mr. Wogglebug said sounding scolding and yet also gentle. "The only thing you can do now is resolve the problems you have created around here first and then return the Tablet to the other museum where it rightfully belongs."

Jeremy knew Mr. Wogglebug was very right.

"What puzzles me, though," Mr. Wogglebug continued sounding almost sad, "is that when I first met you I thought you seemed like such a nice young lad and an intelligent one also. So why did you do wrong before now?"

"Well..." Jeremy thought about this for a long while in silence and then he replied, "I guess it was because I don't like the world I live in or anyone in it."

"What do you mean by that?" Mr. Wogglebug inquired gently.

"I mean," began Jeremy. "I have a Dad who lives in San Fransisco, and a Mom who works all the time, and a little sister who is such a pest, and a Grandpa who never notices me."

"I see," said Mr. Wogglebug. "I'm sorry to know that, but still I don't see them as any reason for you to do wrong when you could do right instead. And perhaps now will be your chance for redeeming yourself and you'll come out of here as a much wiser and better person than before."

Jeremy sincerely hoped Mr. Wogglebug was right.


	6. Chapter 6

Jeremy went with Mr. Wogglebug into another section of the museum which looked a lot like a wild jungle with tall dark trees with leaves hanging down from their wide branches that surrounded them. At one point Jeremy could almost swear he had heard the sounds of wild animals hiding somewhere around them.

"This jungle looks so real," said Jeremy. "A little too real for me. Do you think there are any wild things living around here?" he nervously asked Mr. Wogglebug.

"I don't know," Mr. Wogglebug replied. "But I'm sure..."

Just then, from out of nowhere, a huge ferocious beastlike thing leaped out in front of them with a loud wild roar as it bared its long sharp teeth and equally long and sharp claws at them. They quickly jumped back and Jeremy screamed a little as he pulled Mr. Wogglebug with him behind a tree.

The big wild thing then softened its expression and put down its paws and said, "Oh, I'm sorry! I thought you were those pesky flying monkeys coming back for us again. I didn't know you were a boy and a... whatever you are."

"I have the honor of being called a Wogglebug," Mr. Wogglebug said proudly. "And he has the honor of being called Jeremy," he added as he gently pulled Jeremy with him from behind the tree. "What have you the honor of being called?"

"I'm called Carol," replied the wild thing. Then he called out, "It's okay. You can all come out. It's not them. It's just a boy and a Wogglebug."

Then out from behind the trees and bushes there came six more wild things. They all looked relieved and curious to see Jeremy and Mr. Wogglebug.

"So what brings you two to our jungle?" asked Carol.

Before Jeremy could reply, Mr. Wogglebug said, "We are on a grand mission to save this museum and perhaps the world from utter destruction by four power-hungry villains who want us to uncover the hidden code of this ancient Tablet." He showed the wild things the Tablet and said, "I don't suppose any of you can read it?"

"We're afraid not," said Carol. "We can barely read words, let alone magic symbols."

"That's what I thought," Mr. Wogglebug said with a sigh.

"Well, if you've got four villains threatening your lives then why don't you just let us eat them up and get rid of them?" asked a wild thing with a rhino horn.

"Well, because they're too big and mean for you to digest," replied Mr. Wogglebug frankly. "I sure wouldn't want you getting stomach-aches from them."

"Not to mention," added Jeremy, "they're made of wax and I don't think wax tastes very good."

"I guess you're right," said the rhino horned wild thing with much disappointment.

"But why are you looking for someone to read the Tablet for them?" asked another wild thing curiously. "I mean, wouldn't that just be helping the enemies?"

"No, not at all," replied Mr. Wogglebug easily. "You see, we intend to find someone who can read it who will use it against the villains. It's like the old saying, 'if you can't beat them join them, and then beat them'."

"Oh, right. I see," said the wild thing.

"Well, if you can't read the Tablet, can you direct us to someone who might be able to?" asked Jeremy hopefully.

"Hmm..." Carol thought for a moment and then he said, "Well, I know that around that way to the right there is a great big blue caterpillar who sits on a mushroom and he's always reciting a lot of poems and things that don't make no sense so he might be able to help you out."

"Thank you," said Mr. Wogglebug with a bow.

"And if you need anymore help from us we'll be there for you," added Carol as they started to walk away through the jungle.

"We may need your strength sometime soon to help us," Mr. Wogglebug told them.

They walked out of the jungle and when they reached the end of it they turned to the right. Then there they saw a giant mushroom surrounded by dozens of smaller mushrooms and on top of the big mushroom was sitting a large blue caterpillar who was holding a long hookah in between his six legs and was smoking it continuously.

Mr. Wogglebug looked up at him and waved his hand to him as he said, "Hello there, my fellow insect! We have a magic Tablet here with us and we were wondering if perhaps you might be able decipher it for us. I mean, you do seem to be very intelligent after all."

The caterpillar took a long puff on its hookah and then took it out of its mouth and blew the smoke out in a long thick stream that billowed into their faces as it asked, "Who are you?"

Mr. Wogglebug tried to wave the smoke away from his face as he replied, "I am Mr. H.M. Wogglebug T.E., and this is Jeremy. And," here he coughed, "are you even aware of the health hazards of second hand smoke?" He took out his handkerchief and coughed into it repeatedly.

"Why should I?" asked the caterpillar in a rather stuffy voice.

"Well, because I've heard it clogs up your lungs and your heart and eventually it stops you from breathing and then.." Mr. Wogglebug began lecturing the caterpillar and then Jeremy cut him off.

"Well, anyway, can you read this?" he asked as he held up the Tablet for the caterpillar to see.

The caterpillar picked the Tablet up in his last two limbs and brought them up in his second pair and then his first where he held it up and appeared to be studying it. Then he looked down at them again and said, "It seems to be telling me that somewhere there is a man with a spear who caught a fish on an island and threw it to a bird and then trapped the bird in a vase shaped like a beetle."

Jeremy frowned in disappointment as Mr. Wogglebug said, "Well, we thank you for your time, Mr. Caterpillar. Now we must be on our way. And do think about getting a smoking patch for every one of your arms!"

Then the caterpillar went right back to smoking its hookah as Mr. Wogglebug and Jeremy turned around and headed into another direction.

"Don't worry, my boy," Mr. Wogglebug said to Jeremy. "We'll find someone who can decipher this Tablet somewhere around here. We just have to keep looking ahead."

"If you ask me," said a soft voice from somewhere around them, 'you should just quit while you're ahead. I know I always do."

They turned around and they saw a large purple and pink striped cat with a huge and wide grin on its face staring at them down from a tree it was curled up in.

"It's the Cheshire Cat!" said Jeremy. "Maybe he can help us."

"Here. Can you read these hieroglyphics for us?" Mr. Wogglebug asked as he held up the Tablet.

The Cheshire Cat stared grinning at the Tablet and then said cheerily, "No, I can't. But it does remind me of something. It reminds me I'm due to meet Alice for a tea party at the Mad Hatter's. Bye for now." And with that he vanished from sight.

"How curious," Mr. Wogglebug murmured.

"Well, why don't we go to see the Mad Hatter?" asked Jeremy. "Maybe he'll know what the Tablet says or be able to tell us about someone who can."

"Well, I don't see we have anything to lose by trying him," replied Mr. Wogglebug.

So then they went down the corner and turned left and then they saw the Mad Hatter himself sitting at the head of a large tea table covered with tea things and sitting next to him was the March Hare and the Dormouse and Alice who was looking bored and exasperated. They went up to the tea table and sat down in two empty chairs next to Alice.

"No room!" exclaimed the Hatter. "There's no room here!"

"What do you mean?" asked Jeremy. "There's plenty of room."

"Do have some wine," said the March Hare.

"I don't see any wine," said Jeremy looking around.

"There isn't any," said the March Hare.

"Then it wasn't very civil of you to offer it," said Mr. Wogglebug.

"You mustn't take it personally," Alice told him. "He says that to everyone who comes by here."

"Why do you stay here anyway?" asked Jeremy.

"I have no idea," replied Alice.

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" the Mad Hatter asked.

"I think the answer is because Edgar Alan Poe wrote upon them both," replied Mr. Wogglebug.

"Really?" asked the Mad Hatter in surprise. "I never knew that."

"Neither did I," said Alice, sounding impressed.

"Well, do you know the answers to this?" Mr. Wogglebug asked as he held the Tablet out to the Hatter.

The Hatter looked at the Tablet in deep thought and then said, "Ah, yes. I think I see just what it is!"

"Well, what is it?" asked Jeremy anxiously.

"It's a mystery in the form of a riddle and shrouded in a conundrum!" said the Hatter.

"Well, yes, but what does it say?" inquired Mr. Wogglebug.

"I haven't the slightest idea," the Hatter admitted.

"Nor I," added the March Hare.

"Well, if that's the case then we had better be on our way now. We're sorry if we bothered you," said Mr. Wogglebug as he and Jeremy got up to leave.

"Not at all," said the Hatter. "Wait!" he called after them. "Why is a lamppost like a flower bed?"

"I have no idea?" said Mr. Wogglebug.

"Neither do I," said the Hatter. "But if you can think of the answer to it be sure to come by and tell me."

"I will," Mr. Wogglebug promised.

"We seem to be getting nowhere with this," Jeremy said dejectedly.

"But we mustn't give up too soon," Mr. Wogglebug told him. "After all, it's still nighttime. We still have about... nine hours," he said as he looked at his pocketwatch."

"Oh boy!" Jeremy sighed. "It's gonna be a long night."


	7. Chapter 7

Mr. Wogglebug and Jeremy continued to look for someone in the museum who could decipher the Tablet for them. They went into the hall of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson where they met with many characters such as the three little pigs, Goldilocks and the three bears, Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Thumbelina, and the little mermaid, though they cam up as empty handed as ever in their quest.

As they were leaving the hall of old fairy tales they suddenly heard a thumping sound coming from behind them along with clinking and clanking. They turned around to see what it was and they were quite shocked and surprised to see it was a six foot tall and thin gray and white catlike person hopping along on one foot while he was balancing five huge stacks of various objects like books, telephones, fish bowls, and other things on one foot, on both of his hands, his long tail, and on top of his tall red ans white striped hat.

As they stared at him a he was approaching them they couldn't help but start to laugh at such an absurd sight. The Cat in the Hat hoped nimbly up to them and asked curiously, "What's so funny?"

"Why you are, of course!" Mr. Wogglebug replied as he chortled. "Look at yourself in a mirror and see for yourself what a sight for sore eyes you are in the state you have got yourself in, my fine fellow!"

"Oh, you mean these things," said the Cat in the Hat glancing at the tall piles of odds and ends in his limbs and tail. "Oh, I'm just helping this nice lady upstairs clean up the place."

"But why do it in such as a way as this?" Jeremy inquired unable to contain his laughter either.

"Why, to save time, of course," replied the Cat in the Hat as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. "After all, if you want a room to be clean of everything in it the only thing to do is to take everything out of it first."

"Well, I guess that does rather make sense," said Mr. Wogglebug with a lighthearted chuckle. He then cleared his throat and said, "We'd hate to bother you in such a condition as you are in, but can you tell us what this says?" He held up the Table for him to see.

The Cat in the Hat stared at the Tablet for a long moment unblinking. Then he said, "No, I'm afraid not. However I do suggest you go ask the nice lady upstairs about it because she seems to know practically everything. Also, she's English so be on your best behavior for her."

As they found themselves not have the best of luck downstairs, Mr. Wogglebug proposed to Jeremy they try looking for answers upstairs like the Cat in the Hat suggested.

"What have we got to lose?" Jeremy shrugged.

They went to the staircase and began climbing up its long flight. They were almost halfway up when suddenly they looked up and saw a most peculiar sight. They saw three young children of three boys and one girl wearing nightclothes and flying all around just below the ceiling. Beside the boy who was in front and wearing a green tunic was a tiny ball of brightly glowing yellow light that was making a tinkling noise.

"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Mr. Wogglebug when he saw them. "I always thought only birds and some insects with wings could fly!"

"I know why they're flying!" said Jeremy. "Because they're Wendy, John, and Michael, with Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. I'd know them anywhere."

Just then they heard a soft and shrill voice of an English lady coming from above them to the left.

"Come down children at once! A museum is no place for flying around foolishly like a flock of wild crows!"

They all turned around and they found none other than Mary Poppins herself gliding gently toward them on the air with the aid of her magic umbrella. Jeremy decided she must be the nice English lady the Cat in the Hat had mentioned.

Peter Pan and the other children looked at her and then slowly floated downward onto the staircase landing.

"Now that is better," said Mary Poppins primly. She then glided down and stood beside them. "And what may I ask are you four doing out of your proper place at this hour of the night?"

"We were just having a little fun," said Peter Pan innocently.

"I thought we were trying to escape from Captain Hook," said Michael.

"Oh, and that too," added Peter.

By now Mr. Wogglebug and Jeremy had just joined them on the staircase landing. Jeremy approached Peter Pan and said, "Peter Pan! I'm so glad to meet you! I've always wanted to! Can you teach me how to fly?"

Peter Pan smiled and said, "Sure I can. All it takes is to think happy thoughts, and have faith and trust in yourself, and a little bit of pixie dust," he added the last part as he took hold of Tinkerbell and held her from behind as he shook her lightly above Jeremy's head and sprinkled him with the pixie dust.

Jeremy did as Peter had told him to do. He thought of happy things. He imagined this night was over and they had just won out against the villains, and he told himself he could really and truly fly if he wanted to, and then instantly he felt his feet lifting off of the floor. He spread his arms out and then took flight high above everyone else and soared and zoomed all around in circles. He had never felt so free in his life.

Mary Poppins watched him and shook her head. "Ah, such a frivolous thing that kind of flying is! But then I suppose children will always be children."

Mr. Wogglebug nodded and said to her, "My good lady, we are all in a situation that calls for immediate attention." He then showed her the Tablet and asked, "Do you know what these symbols mean by any chance?"

Mary Poppins stared at the Tablet for a moment and then replied, "Well, of course not. What do I look like, a magician to you?"

"No," said Mr. Wogglebug. "But I suppose a real magician is exactly who we should be looking for! Thank you so much! Jeremy!" he called up to him. "I know who we should look for now."

"Awesome!" said Jeremy as he did a double somersault with a half twist in it in mid air to show how happy this made him.

Mr. Wogglebug then said to Mary Poppins," I thank you for your time and your insight. And you also," he added to Peter Pan.

Then Mr. Wogglebug walked up to the higher level of the museum with Jeremy still flying above him overhead.

Then suddenly they heard a heavy thumping coming toward them that was followed by a lot a excited shouting in a language that sounded foreign to them. Then a moment later they saw a round pot bellied robotlike thing made of copper running quickly away from a band of men all dressed like they were in a dessert and wearing turbans on their heads.

"What is that?" asked Jeremy.

"I think it sounds Arabic to me," replied Mr. Wogglebug.

"No, I don't mean what those guys are saying!" Jeremy exclaimed, "I mean what is that thing they are chasing after."

Mr. Wogglebug looked and then did a double take as he exclaimed in surprise, "Why, it's Tik-Toc! He's one of my fellows from the Land of Oz!"

Then Mr. Wogglebug ran in between Tik-Toc and the men in turbans as he exclaimed, "Halt! In the name of Oz!" The men all stopped short and looked demandingly at him. "Why were you chasing after that little guy for?" Mr. Wogglebug demanded to know.

"He be made of copper," explained the one of them who seemed to be their leader. "That be a priceless treasure for us. We take anything that be treasure. I be Ali Baba and these be my fellow thieves."

"Oh, I see," said Mr. Wogglebug. He then thought for a moment and said, "But I wouldn't steal Tik-Toc if I were you fellows, because that would make Ozma very upset indeed as he is her Royal Army."

"Oh," said Ali Baba taken aback. "We're sorry. We had no idea he belonged to a Queen."

"Very good," said Mr. Wogglebug. "Now if you will excuse us we must be on our way. We're looking for a magician."

"Then look no further than up to your left where there be a great King who have a very powerful magician at his side," said Ali Baba.

"Merlin! Of course!" said Mr. Wogglebug. "I should have known all along. Thank you, my good men!"

Mr. Wogglebug and Jeremy then went to find Merlin.


	8. Chapter 8

Jeremy and Mr. Wogglebug were heading up to the left to find the Camelot exhibit when suddenly Jeremy felt something leap onto his back. Then he heard a raspy voice hiss in his ear, "Where is he? Have you seen him?"

He looked over his shoulder and found himself looking into the grotesque face of a humanoid looking creature with greenish skin and huge bulging eyes and sharp teeth. Alarmed, he shook it off of him as he exclaimed, "Who are you? And what do you want from me?"

The creature stood up and replied, "I am Smeagol, and I want my precious!'

"Your precious what?" asked Jeremy.

"My precious ring!" Smeagol said loudly. "That is why I'm looking for him!"

"For who?" asked Jeremy.

"For Bilbo, of course!" said Smeagol. "Have you seen him? He's a hobbit."

"No, I don't think I have," replied Jeremy. "I'll let you know if I find him though."

"He was last seen with Ghandalf the Gray in the left highest room," said Smeagol. "A very powerful wizard."

"A powerful wizard? I wonder if maybe he could decipher this Tablet for us," Jeremy wondered.

"Weren't we on our way just now to see Merlin?" inquired Mr. Wogglebug.

"Oh yeah," said Jeremy. "Well, maybe we could ask them both for help."

"I don't know about that," Mr. Wogglebug said dubiously. "After all, it's not a good idea to mix magics. It could be dangerous."

"Well, at this rate I'm willing to risk anything," said Jeremy.

Then then found their way up to the Camelot exhibit where they saw King Arthur with Queen Guinevere but they didn't see Merlin anywhere.

They approached the two English monarchs and Mr. Wogglebug took off his hat and bowed to them and then asked, "Please, Your Majesties, can you tell us where your magician Merlin is?"

"Why yes," replied King Arthur. "He is just now in the second room to the right. I expect he is just now having a conference with another great wizard who calls himself Ghandalf. He came by here a while ago and he and Merlin were interested in each other."

"Ah, I see," said Mr. Wogglebug. "Well, thank you, Your Majesties."

Then Jeremy and Mr. Wogglebug hurried into the second room on the right. There they found Merlin along with Ghandalf. The two ancient and long bearded wizards were sitting across from each other at an old-fashioned desk and seemed to be arguing passionately about something that was incomprehensible to them. They figured it was about some ancient magic spells.

They quickly approached them and Mr. Wogglebug cleared his throat to get their attention and when they stopped speaking and turned to look questioningly at them he said, "We are very sorry to interrupt your conferencing, good sirs. But we have a most serious problem on our hands at the moment. You see, there are these four villains downstairs who are planning to take over the world unless we can figure this out." He then showed them the Tablet with the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics on it.

Merlin picked up the Tablet and looked at it closely and then gasped as he exclaimed in awe, "Oh my word! This is the one and only ancient Tablet of Ahkmenrah of Egypt! It is meant to keep dead things alive, and to bring life to non-living things. And it also changes the shape and size of things."

"Yes, we know that," said Mr. Wogglebug. "What we want to know is if there is any spell within it that can defeat the four villains and save the world while keeping this museum still in one piece."

"Oh my, yes, indeed there is such a spell!" said Merlin. "It's a spell that can eliminate life from something and turn it to wax."

"That sounds like what we want," said Jeremy. "Especially since everything around here is already made of wax. No offense."

"So, how does this spell work?" asked Mr. Wogglebug.

"It's very simple," Merlin. "We just have to turn the Tablet squares counter-clockwise so that the fish comes before the beetle but after the island, and..."

Ghandalf suddenly interrupted him and snatched the Tablet out of his hands. He looked at it and exclaimed with indignation, "No, you old fool! That is all wrong! Completely wrong! Don't you see it must be the beetle before the island and then after the fish!"

Merlin scowled in annoyance and said, "No, you're the one who is completely wrong, you old fool! I know I am right about this. I have spent years studying in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics! So I know what I am talking about!"

"Well, that may be!" said Ghandalf, "but it just so happens that I have dedicated my whole life to studying and deciphering the arts of ancient symbols and the proper combinations for them used in spells such as this. So now if you don't mind..."

"As a matter of fact, I do mind!" Merlin yelled. "Now hand that back!"

Then the two old wizards began fighting over the Tablet, pulling it to and from each other all the while shouting at each other incomprehensibly.

Jeremy looked at Mr. Wogglebug and said in despair, "A fine pair they are for helping us! You were right about it being a bad idea to mix magics."

Mr. Wogglebug then sighed and shook his head in frustration. Then he walked right up to the two quarreling wizards and broke up their fight as he exclaimed, "Hold it!" Then they instantly stopped and looked at him.

"That's better," he said. "Now allow me to tell you that you are both completely wrong about the right combination of the symbols that must be used for casting the spell." They looked at him shocked and then he took the Tablet into his own hands as he continued, "You see, it must be the island first, and then the man with the spear, and then the fish, and that's that."

"I see you are right!" exclaimed Ghandalf. "But who did you know?"

"It's very easy, really," replied Mr. Wogglebug. "You see, it must always be c before b except after a in all things. Everyone learns that in school, didn't you?"

"Well, no, not really," admitted Merlin. "I guess we were both just too busy studying about magic to learn much of anything else."

"Ah, I see," said Mr. Wogglebug. "It just goes to show you what you can accomplish when you stick to your education as I did."

Then the two wizards went with them downstairs and into the main room where they found the four villains. They also saw the Wicked Witch of the West was holding Dorothy by her waist upside down just above her boiling cauldron. And Captain Hook was holding a glass jar in which Tinkerbell was being held in. And Long John Silver had tied up Peter Pan beside him. And the Queen of Hearts had her Army of Cards capture Alice and they were all holding their sharp spears up around her neck.

"We got back here just in time," said Jeremy.

Mr. Wogglebug nodded and then stepped forward with Jeremy who said to the villains, "I have kept my promise to you and I have brought back someone who can decipher the Tablet's spell and give you all what you want."

"Good! Good boy!" said Captain Hook. "Now hand over the Tablet!"

"Not until you let Dorothy, Alice, Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell go!" Jeremy said.

The villains all looked much disappointed at this. But then Captain Hook released Tinkerbell, Long John Silver untied Peter Pan, The Wicked Witch put Dorothy down, and the Queen of Hearts ordered her Army to move away from Alice.

Then Jeremy walked up to the Witch and handed her the Tablet. Then he instructed her on how to work it. "Turn the squares in it so that the island comes first, and then the man with the spear and then the fish."

The Witch proceeded to do this. The Tablet glowed a bright gold light and she began to cackle with triumph. Then all at once she turned into solid wax again as did Long John Silver, Captain Hook, and the Queen of Hearts.

Jeremy took the Tablet out of the Witch's hands and exclaimed in victory, "We did it! We saved the world!"

Mr. Wogglebug nodded proudly and then said, "Now there is just one thing left that needs to be done."

"And what is that?" asked Jeremy.

"You have to return the Tablet to the rightful place you found it in the museum of history, of course!" Mr. Wogglebug told him.

"Oh, yeah, that's right!" said Jeremy a bit embarrassed. Then he went up to Mr. Wogglebug and hugged him tightly. "Goodbye, Mr. Wogglebug. Thank you for everything. I couldn't have gotten through this night if it hadn't been for you."

"The pleasure has really been all mine," Mr. Wogglebug assured him as he hugged him back. "Just remember to stick to your education and you will the better of actions to take in the future. Now you better hurry, it's almost dawn."

So then Jeremy left the Children's Museum and raced as fast as he could to the Museum of Natural History. He banged on the doors and then a man wearing a blue uniform and carrying a flashlight unlocked the door for him.

"What do you want?" asked the night guard.

"I just wanted to return this," Jeremy said as he handed him the Tablet.

The night guard's eyes went wide as he took hold of the Tablet. "You mean you took this from the Pharaoh's Tomb? How could you?"

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Honest I am. And I will never do it again," Jeremy assured him sincerely.

"Well, good," said the night guard. "Because I'm willing to let you go this time, but not if there is ever a next time."


End file.
